Multicoloured
by MattsUK
Summary: Follow the characters of RWBY through the eyes of an unusual student and his Brothers who all share a common secret. Contains Mild Harsh Language. THIS STORY HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: First day at Beacon**

'_First day can't be all that bad, right?'_ the boy thought to himself as he pulled his hood up and put his mask on and hoisted himself onto the transport. He wandered around the ship for a matter of minutes before taking a seat by one of the windows. The view was unbeatable.

The boy wore a Taupe hoodie that, when the hood was pulled up, obscured his eyes. He always kept his hoodie zipped. He wore a solid black half face mask that covered his face from the nose to the collarbone (tucked under the hoodie), a pair of black fingerless gloves that were silver on the palms, a pair of combat trousers completed with a German Flecktarn Camouflage. Underneath his casual wear, he wore greaves, elbow pads, shoulder pads and knee pads, all made of Aerogel encased in plastic.

The boy pulled his gauntlet from his bag and slid them on his right arm. The gauntlet was made of Graphene and stuck out, away from his arm, in a triangular shape. The gauntlet only covered his forearm, leaving his hand unprotected. The gauntlet had a bronze colour finish and donned the Symbol of a Scorpion.

The boy laid his head back and rested it against the seat. He prepared his body for his first day at Beacon Academy. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The boy awoke to find a young girl leaning over and staring at his face. The boy jumped in his seat, courtesy of his unexpected guest. The girl perked up and stood in an upright position in front of him.

"Hi!" she declared in an uplifting tone, "My name's Ruby!" she stuck out her hand in front of her hand.

"Cute name," he replied, "a precious gem, one to be safeguarded. Not so much fragile, but very valuable."

"uhhh…" she was confused.

"Tai," he said as he gently shook her hand.

Ruby ran off, looking confused. She joined up with another girl. This one had long, luscious blonde hair. Tai went back into his sleeping position and fell asleep once more, for the remainder of the journey.

Tai was awoken by the sudden scuffle of students, huddling around the door of the transport ship.

'_I suppose we're here then'_ he thought.

Tai stood up and checked himself over.

'_Haven't been robbed yet'_ He smiled under his mask.

Tai followed the other students as they proceeded through the door of the transport ship. Most gasped in awe as they saw Beacon up close for the very first time.

He found a nearby bench to sit down on and he surveyed his surroundings, trying to make a mental image in his head. He observed the people around him. Most seemed happy; a select few seemed slightly depressed and a small amount showed no emotion whatsoever.

Tai eyed Ruby talking to a girl dressed in a white dress with a red trim. She was slightly taller than Ruby and seemed to be rather angry. He was unsure what the fuss was about as he was too far to make out exact words, but he quickly recognised the girl in white.

'_Who other than Weiss Schnee to enrol at the prestigious Beacon Academy?'_ he grinned from ear to ear underneath his mask. He didn't exactly like those who were considered 'rich'; The Schnee's being no exception.

Tai wasn't expecting them to explode. Weiss shook a vial of fire dust around and Ruby sneezed, resulting in an explosion. Much to his surprise, they both remained unscathed. The vial of fire dust flew out of Weiss's hands and landed by his feet. He bent down and snatched the glass vial off the floor. He tossed it around in his hand for a while. The vial had the Schnee Company Logo printed on the side.

Tai stood from his position on the bench and proceeded to advance toward the small racket. As he got closer, he was able to make out what was being said between the two.

"…your ordinary Combat School!" argued Weiss, "It's not just sparring and practise you know! We're her to fight monsters, so… watch where you're going!"

Tai stopped a couple meters away from the argument as a girl with black hair and a black bow, dressed in a black outfit with a white trim, overtook him.

"Hey! I said I was sorry, Princess!" Ruby retaliated

"It's Heiress, actually." The black haired girl intervened, "Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world…"

"Finally, some recognition!" said Weiss as she swung her head to look at Ruby

"The same company," continued the girl in black, "infamous for its controversial labour forces and questionable business partners."

"What?! How dare- d-!" Weiss lost her words mid-sentence and Ruby chuckled, "The nerve of-" she stomped over to Tai and snatched the vial of dust from his hands.

"What are you looking at?" she demanded and before he could answer, she stormed off toward the main building.

Ruby tried starting a conversation with the girl in black, but she turned only to find that she had departed and was going her own way. Ruby fell to her knees and sighed. Tai walked over to her.

"Rough first day?" he asked. He was about to say more when he noticed a blonde boy walking over towards them and he changed his next words, "don't worry, happens to the best of us."

Tai turned and walked the path towards the gathering point for the first year students.

'_Best to get there first and secure my place in the corner'_ Tai wasn't too keen on socialising within his first 24 hours at beacon. _'Initiation will be a good place to meet some new friends I suppose'_ he thought to himself.

Thirty minutes ticked by before the hall began to fill with all the new first year students. In around ten minutes, the room was filled to the brim with new students. He caught Ruby and her new found friend entering the hall. She uttered something to the blonde boy and ran towards the same blonde girl from the ship.

'_She looks young' _he thought as he watched Ruby, _'too young to have friends in the same year, aside from those she had just met. Probably a relative although they don't look alike at all'_

Weiss Schnee joined the two girls.

….

"… It is up to you to take the first step." Concluded Ozpin as Glynda Goodwitch took possession of the microphone.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight," she explained, "tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

Tai decided that having the rest of the day to explore wasn't a half bad idea. He would know the ins and outs of this school by nightfall.

….

As night fell, the new students gathered in the ballroom and prepared for bed. They would need it for initiation and so would Tai.

He sat against a wall for several minutes and picked out who looked to be the strongest and most capable of students in his year. He picked out 4 people who he believed were the strongest of the year.

'_Ruby, there's more to her than meets the eye. Potential wise, of course. Her blonde companion has good physique, looks like a brawler. The girl in black. Not much to say about her. Looks like the hard working type, probably a good fighter too. Finally, Pyrrha Nikos. Obviously. She had won the mistral regional tournament 4 times in a row, doubling his record, which spoke volumes of what she was capable of.'_

Ruby and her companion were talking to the black haired girl. He caught a name from their conversation.

'_Blake, what an odd name for a girl. It doesn't even tell me much about her'_

Tai was a name person. He deduced people's attitude and personality from their names. It wasn't very often that a person would have a name that perfectly described their personality or anything about them. It was fates choice to pick out those amongst the people of Remnant and depict them by name. Those who told a story or personality in their name were mostly, if not always, destined for greatness, whether their name would be similar to a historical figure, or a word adopted from an ancient language. He would also try and depict people from their words and their tone. Most people showed themselves off by projecting their tone in a particular way.

Tai was also able to pick out another name, Yang, most likely the blonde.

'_I should probably get some rest and prepare for initiation tomorrow'_ he thought to himself. He tucked himself into his sleeping bag, still wearing the same clothes as he did in the day. He shut his eyes and tried to ignore the racket coming from the other end of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Pre-Initiation**

Tai's eyes fluttered open and the light burned his eyes like he had just set a scorching flame upon them. Tai raised his left hand to counteract the light shining upon him. He lay in bed for several moments before making the effort to sit up. His hood remained on, hiding his eyes from any potential viewers. He gazed around himself and found most other students still in their sleeping bags, sleeping soundlessly.

He freed himself from the grasp of his sleeping bag and slowly stood up. He raised his left hand and glanced down at his analogue watch. The hands read 5:46. He let out a subtle yawn.

'_Early… I should get some food in me before the others wake up.'_

Tai found the school's cafeteria with only a handful of students inside. He got his breakfast and found an empty table easily enough, seeing as almost all the tables were empty. He pulled his mask down to eat and shoved a mouthful of food into his mouth. He observed the 7 other students in the cafeteria but recognised none of them.

He quickly finished his meal and looked back at his watch. The time read 5:59.

Tai decided that it would be a good idea to go to the rooftop, if there was one, and watch the sunrise. He hadn't seen the sunrise in a long time and he always liked to remember something that didn't include death and training or anything depressing.

He sat with his feet hanging off the edge of the rooftop, watching the sun as it dawned over the horizon. Tai heard footsteps approaching him from behind.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he asked his unknown accomplice, watching the sunrise. The footsteps stopped. Tai twisted his head to see a head of long red hair.

"Ms Nikos," he said, redirecting his head to continue watching the sunset, "I expected you to be getting rest. We should all be well rested for the initiation. I hear it's quite the fun time, and you wouldn't want to be half asleep, missing all that fun when you could be well rested and enjoy the full experience."

"Y-you know who I am?" she asked as she sat next to him, tossing her legs over the edge of the rooftop. He chuckled slightly.

"Everyone knows who you are," he said, "Besides, there's no excuse for not knowing who your superiors are."

"Superior? What do you mean?"

"You have achieved celebrity status by setting your own record, Ms Nikos." He sounded disheartened mentioning her record.

"Just because I set a new record, doesn't mean that I'm any more important than anyone else."

"You are in my eyes, Ms Nikos."

"Pyrrha"

"Pyrrha," he corrected himself, "you have bested what I once was."

Pyrrha gasped in realisation, "You were who won the Mistral Regional Tournament twice in a row?"

He smiled at the memories, "Indeed I was. I was not strong enough to carry the torch any longer, so I passed it to the person who, in my eyes, was most capable of bearing the burden." He paused for a moment until he started up again and Pyrrha listened contently to his words.

"You have managed to bear the burden of being a champion for two times as long as I had. I'm glad I chose the right person. I chose that who represented Achilles." He looked over to the Spartan who sat next to him and noticed a look of confusion on her face.

"Achilles," he started, "A hero of the Trojan War. An ancient Greek warrior who took the ancient city of Troy. He slayed the Trojan hero, Hector, outside the gates of Troy itself. Achilles was also said to have disguised himself as a Red-Haired girl, named Pyrrha, you. He did this to try and avoid fighting in the Trojan War." Tai finished his short lecture and stood. Pyrrha remained sitting on the edge of the rooftop.

As he turned and walked from the roof he spoke a few extra words to the red-haired girl.

"Pyrrha," he said, "do me a favour and keep a firm grip on that torch. Bear the burden at least one more time." At that, he returned to the Ballroom.

He found that around half the students had awoken from their slumber. He glanced at his watch; the time was 7:30. He had spent over an hour and a half on the roof. He wondered about what else he could do to pass the time when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see a rather happy looking Ruby.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" he asked her

"You can't say that when you're up and about!" she retorted, maintaining a happy tone in her voice as she spoke.

"Good point…" he replied

"Anyway, uhh…" Ruby paused to think

"Tai," he said

"Oh yeah, right! Tai!" she said, "We were wondering if you would like to grab a bite to eat with us?"

"We?" asked Tai

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to say, me, my sister and Jaune."

"Your sister? Jaune?"

Ruby gestured over to a couple of blondes conversing with one another.

"Ah," he said, "Of course, how could I not realise." He recognised both of them, but only just learned that the boy's name was Jaune.

"So…" started Ruby

"I've already eaten, but I'd be happy to accompany you."

Ruby jumped slightly at his answer, but it was a joyful jump. She ran over to Yang and Jaune, dragging Tai with her.

"We've got a new member!" Ruby rejoiced and Yang stuck out her hand

"I'm Yang," she said, smiling as she did so, "Ruby's older sister! It's great to meet you!"

He didn't question them and shook her hand

'_Decent grip' _he thought to himself as he shook her hand.

"Tai," he replied, "good to meet you too."

Jaune stuck out his hand, "Jaune Arc," he introduced himself, "good to meet you."

Tai shook his hand, almost crushing the bone in Jaune's hand

"Ow, ow, ow!" squealed Jaune as Tai's crushing grip destroyed his hand. Tai released his hand.

"Sorry," he apologised, "name's Tai."

"Nah," Jaune dismissed the incident, "its fine."

"So, Jaune," started Tai, "you consider yourself to be quite the leader, I suppose?"

"Ha!" Jaune laughed, "And what tells you that?"

"Your name is Jaune Arc, member of the Arc Family, but, more importantly, your first known ancestor is Joan of Arc, considered one of the greatest leaders in history. You were born into one of the greatest leaders in history, Mr Arc." Jaune stayed quiet, listening to Tai's reasoning.

"Although not known to be a great fighter, she is still considered one of the greatest leaders that ever lived." He finished. There was silence for a moment until Jaune spoke up.

"Are you also implying that I'm a woman?"

Tai laughed. Yang and Ruby laughed along with him. Tai was able to control his laughter a lot easier than Yang and Ruby. He stopped laughing within a couple seconds but it took longer for Yang and Ruby to follow suit.

"You three must be hungry," said Tai, "You'd best get something to eat before initiation." He glanced at his watch that read 8:00

"You have two hours before initiation."

An hour and 30 minutes later Tai was standing in the locker room, along with a group of other first year students, Ruby, Yang, Jaune, Blake, Weiss, Jaune and Pyrrha included. A voice sounded over the speakers,

"Will all first year students please report to Beacon Cliffs for initiation, that's all first year students to Beacon Cliffs for initiation."

The voice sounded off.

'_That's us'_ He thought to himself. He headed to the Cliffs.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Initiation**

When he and the other students arrived at the cliffs, Professor Ozpin instructed them to stand on one of the metal platforms in the ground.

Ozpin spoke, "For years now, you have trained to become warriors, today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda spoke after him, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… today."

Tai looked over to Ruby, "What?" she said, followed by a groan

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon," Ozpin continued, "so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"WHAT!?" screamed Ruby

'_Sounds simple enough'_ Tai thought to himself

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way, do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die."

Ozpin continued explaining the initiation process.

"You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff." Ozpin concluded

Tai braced himself to be launched from the platform. The platform made short grinding sounds before flinging Tai through the air. He was the first of the students to be launched.

'_Probably should've thought of a landing strategy'_ he thought to himself. _'I guess I'll just have to take the fall'_ He gulped _'Yeah, sure I'm used to falling, but from this height?'_

Tai braced himself for landing and went feet first towards the ground. The large gathering of branches and leaves managed to slow his decent slightly before he hit the ground. As he collided with the ground, the force of his landing obliterated the dirt beneath him.

Tai stood, unscathed by the tall fall that he had just taken. He brushed himself off and departed, heading north.

Tai stared down at his feet as he walked. He observed how he himself moved. He moved with a certain strength in his step, pounding away at the earth when his boots made contact with the ground below them. His movements were not fluent, but powerful, as if he transmitted power through his stride. Tai became endorsed in his thoughts as he monitored the actions of his feet.

'_Why?' _he asked himself, _'Why can't I just be like Nikolaus? Why did he get to be-'_

His thoughts were interrupted by a rustling in the bushes ahead of him and he halted his movements. Tai remained silent for a few seconds before activating his gauntlet.

A flash of golden light appeared from the end of his weapon. The light formed a blade, a blade made of pure energy, but the light darkened and became a shadow, a shadow of the light. The blade reached a length of 11 inches. He held the shadow up to his face, preparing to strike at his unseen foe.

The bushes rustled once more, behind him this time. Tai spun to face the source of the sounds. He saw nothing.

'_I'm being followed,'_

He slowly backed from the bushes, scanning the area for movement. He proceeded to head north, ever weary of his unseen adversary. He walked wearily through the forest, navigating the vines and branches that dare stand in his way.

Tai reached the temple in less than five minutes.

'_Too easy'_

He walked over to the temple and examined the artefacts that had been laid out. Each of the artefacts were standing atop their own individual stone podium, two of the artefacts were missing. Upon closer examination, Tai realised that the artefacts were chess pieces.

'_Chess pieces?' _He thought to himself, _'And two are already missing, looks like I'm not the first here'_

Tai picked his piece, the King, and decided to sit down for a while, besides, he still hadn't found a partner yet.

Tai had been sitting leaning his head back against the stone podium that once harboured the King piece, when he saw two feminine figures emerge from the treeline. The duo consisted of a blonde and a girl with solid black hair and a bow, Yang and Blake.

The two girls walked down towards the temple and Tai stood to greet them. He had not been formally introduced to Blake as far as he was aware.

"Oh, hey Tai!" Yang shouted down to him and waved her hand profusely. Tai waited for them to reach the temple before returning the greeting.

"Hey Yang." He replied. Tai turned to Blake as she neared.

"I don't believe we have been formally introduced yet." stated Tai

"Blake," she said, sticking her hand out, "Blake Belladonna."

"Deadly Nightshade," he muttered under his breath. He spoke quietly enough so that they wouldn't hear his words, but he was unaware that Blake had picked up on his words, due to her enhanced hearing.

"Tai," he said, shaking her hand.

Their greetings were suddenly interrupted by a scream echoing from the forest.

"Some girl's in trouble!" exclaimed Yang.

Tai looked over to Blake who, in turn, was pointing up at the sky.

His eyes picked out a minute detail in Blake's actions. It only lasted half a second, but he could swear he saw her bow twitch. He thought nothing much of it and quickly dismissed it as a trick of the mind. He instead directed his attention to what Blake was pointing at, a certain little girl, dressed in red, was falling from the sky, only to be intercepted by another projectile, knocking both Ruby and the interloper into a tree.

Jaune had just flown through the air and had collided with Ruby MIDAIR and most likely saved her from a terrible fate. What a Hero.

Tai glanced over to the tree that Ruby and Jaune had landed in to see Jaune hanging upside down from one of the branches of the tree. He spoke something, but Tai was unable to make out what he said. He was most likely just greeting Ruby after the unlikely event that had just occurred.

'_What a stroke of luck'_

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" asked Blake, looking over to the tree that Ruby and Jaune had landed in.

"I…" Yang started, but was interrupted by the growls of an Ursa and a few trees toppling over in front of them.

Tai redirected his attention towards the treeline, now considerably further away due to the front most trees being knocked over.

An Ursa emerged from the newly created treeline, swinging and flailing its arms about as if trying to swat a fly. A pink explosion arose from behind the Ursa and it toppled to the ground, revealing a girl with orange hair and dressed in pink that appeared to have been riding on the back of the Ursa. The Ursa hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Aww," she moaned, putting on a frown, "It's broken."

A boy dressed in green with black hair jumped over the lifeless body of the Ursa, trying to regain his breath.

"Nora," he started, "please, don't ever do that again." He looked over to Nora to find that she had disappeared and was now standing in front of the white Rook piece. She snatched the piece and immediately broke out into a song.

"_I'm Queen of the Castle,  
>I'm Queen of the Castle."<em>

"NORA!" came the boy's voice, sounding frustrated.

"Coming Ren!" she replied, letting out a small giggle and smiling.

"Well that was… different" said Tai, slightly shocked at the events that had occurred in the past minute.

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake questioned, dumbfounded.

"I…" Yang started, but was once again interrupted, this time by a Deathstalker charging through the treeline, in pursuit of Pyrrha.

"Really?" asked Tai in a monotone voice

Ruby jumped down from the tree, happy to see her sister.

"Ruby!" said Yang

"Yang!" exclaimed Ruby in a tone, happy as ever

"Nora!" Nora jumped in between the two sisters.

"Did she just run all the way with a Deathstalker on her tail?" asked Blake, once again, stating the obvious.

Suddenly, Yang burst out in a fit of rage, her hair igniting and her eyes turning a light red.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" She screamed, "CAN EVERYONE JUST CHILL OUT FOR TWO SECONDS BEFORE SOMETHING CRAZY HAPPENS AGAIN!?"

Ren walked up to join the group, still gasping for breath.

"Um… Yang?" said Ruby, pointing to the skies.

Tai directed his focus to where Ruby was pointing and he saw a Nevermore with no other than Weiss Schnee, hanging on for dear life. He smiled under his mask at the sight.

Tai watched as the other four students conversed about her falling. He just watched in satisfaction as she plummeted through the sky.

"With all that's happened in the past three minutes, something stupid will happen, resulting in her wellbeing." Said Tai, turning to the four students next to him, "Don't worry."

Suddenly, Jaune appeared from a tree and caught Weiss in mid-air. What he didn't realise is that gravity still exists. The two quickly plummeted to the ground, Jaune landing first and then Weiss landing on top of him.

"Idiot," Tai muttered to himself.

Tai directed his attention back to the Deathstalker once more to see Pyrrha flying through the air towards them. She landed by their feet, motionless.

He decided that it was time to test his abilities.

Tai ran at the Deathstalker, full pelt, activating his weapon. Shadows formed the blade as he brought the blade down over his head in a stabbing motion. The strike decapitated one of the Deathstalker's mandibles. It squealed in pain and brought its right claw to counter his attack. He brought his gauntlet up and deflected the attack, skidding back and remaining on his feet. This time he waited for the Deathstalker to attack. It brought its stinger down and Tai sidestepped its attack and brought his blade down on the stinger, decapitating it. The Deathstalker squealed once more, backing off for a few seconds to regain its composure.

Tai went on the offensive and the Deathstalker tried to defend itself using its claws as protection. Tai swung his blade and effortlessly cut through the Deathstalker's armored claw. He rushed the Deathstalker and ended its life, thrusting his blade through the front of its body. He deactivated his weapon and returned to the other students.

"Did he just…" Blake started, forgetting her next words

"Kill a Deathstalker…" continued Yang

"Single-handedly?" finished Pyrrha

The students were about ready to bomb Tai with questions when they heard the Nevermore cry out from its position in the sky.

"Time we left," said Tai, re-joining the group. The others agreed without a word and picked their artefacts. They could ask questions after Initiation.

The group rushed for the Beacon Cliffs, trying to avoid the Nevermore and hopefully avoid getting killed. It didn't quite turn out that way.

As they crossed the bridge in haste, the Nevermore circled around and went for the bridge. The Nevermore collided with the bridge, destroying it and sending the students flying. Thankfully, all the students were able to make it over the bridge before its destruction, all but two of them.

Tai raised himself off the ground and proceeded to stand up. He looked around and realised that he was separated from the rest of the group. The others had already engaged the Nevermore in combat.

Tai scanned the area around him and saw Pyrrha running up to him

"So you got left out too, eh?" he said, looking over to where the rest of the students were engaging the giant bird.

Before Pyrrha could answer, a low growl sounded from behind her. Glancing over her shoulder he caught sight of a Beowolf, preparing to swipe its claws at Pyrrha.

Tai reacted quickly, tackling Pyrrha to the ground and narrowly avoiding the claws himself. He swung around, his blade cutting the Beowolf in half. As the body of the Beowolf split in two, he eyed an entire pack of around 20 Beowolves ready to take its place. They were in for a fight.

Tai engaged the Beowolves, picking them off one by one, maintaining a steady pace throughout the fight. He had cut through half of the group when he glanced over to check on Pyrrha, who was contending with a smaller group of Beowolves. He turned back to the matter at hand, finding that the Beowolves that he had just killed all replaced by fresh ones.

Tai killed each Beowolf relatively easily, but more kept coming there were at least 30 of them now, and they had him surrounded.

A Beowolf lunged at him only to have its arm cut off. The rest of the pack then closed on him, moving in from all directions. He fought at his greatest and their numbers nearly overcame him but he managed to kill every last one of the dogs.

He had sustained heavy injuries. Multiple deep gashes lined his torso, he had taken a bite on the leg and he was bleeding profusely from a deep laceration on his right shoulder, completely disabling his right arm. His clothes were torn where his wounds presented themselves.

If his last injury wasn't inflicted by the final Beowolf, he would be dead by now.

He averted his gaze from the masses of dead Beowolves around him and glanced over to where Pyrrha had last been. The area was clear, but Pyrrha lay unconscious on the floor.

He slowly trod over to Pyrrha's limp body, cursing his wounds for impairing his ability to walk. Once he reached her body, he checked her pulse. Her heart was still beating away. He examined her body for injuries but found none of the sort.

He eventually came to the conclusion that she either passed out from exhaustion or was knocked unconscious by her adversary. Tai picked her up with his working arm, hoisted her over his left shoulder and set off towards Beacon.

When he and his unconscious comrade neared the broken bridge, he found a Bullhead waiting for him. He boarded the Bullhead and gently set the still unconscious Pyrrha down on one of the seats. He then took his own seat next to her limp form. The journey felt long to Tai when it was only a 1 minute fly to the entrance of Beacon. The pain made the journey last 10 times as long in Tai's mind.

As soon as the Bullhead landed, both Pyrrha and Tai were immediately transported to the Infirmary. As he was hoisted onto a stretcher, his vision began to slowly fade and the pain started to subside as he fell into an unconscious state.

Tai's eyes fluttered to life. He groaned as he sat up. He felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder.

"Hey, settle down brother," came a voice from beside him. Tai twisted his head to see a very familiar looking person sitting beside his bed.

"Nikolaus?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: It Is Hard To Erase History**

Nikolaus wore a hoodie similar to his, but coloured Honeydew. He wore a similar mask, coloured a solid white. His trousers followed the same colour pattern, solid White and he also wore white fingerless gloves that turned a darker shade of white at the palms. His hood and mask were up, obscuring his facial features.

Nikolaus was leaning over Tai, trying to get him to lie back down. He had ensured that Tai's face remained unseen.

"Lay," he said, "you have yet to fully recover."

"What the hell are you doing here?" asked Tai, "Last I heard, you were in Atlas."

"I heard what happened and came over as soon as I could."

"How did you hear?"

"Ozpin notified all your family members. Luc is heading over as we speak. He should be here in a couple of hours. Ozpin never said what happened, he just said you were injured and that we were able to visit if we choose to do so."

Tai mumbled something inaudible.

"So," Nikolaus continued, "why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Ugh. Alright then, sit back…" Tai explained everything that he had been through in Beacon so far and Nikolaus listened contently. Tai couldn't remember all the details, but he remembered the important ones.

"Sounds like you're quite the Hero there, brother!" Nikolaus said, followed by a short chuckle

"Wait," said Tai, "how long have I been out?"

"They said you were out for a couple days."

"A couple days?"

"That's right."

There was a long pause

"Pull down your hood, bro." said Tai, "I haven't seen your face in ages!"

"I would ask you to do the same, but…" Nikolaus looked around him for a moment

"…we're in a public place."

"But…"

"No!" Nikolaus quickly cut him off, "We were told only to reveal our eyes to those we trusted."

Tai grumbled.

"Either way," said Nikolaus, "You'll be in here for one more day. Your shoulder should have healed by then."

There was a long pause

"Nik"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for visiting"

"Not a problem brother." Nikolaus stood and walked a few feet before stopping. "I'll send some people your way" Nikolaus walked out the doors of the infirmary.

Nikolaus navigated the hallways toward the newly allocated Team JNPR room. Ozpin had told him that there was someone who would want to see him there.

Nikolaus knocked on the door to the room. The door was answered by a red-haired girl dressed in bronze armor.

As Pyrrha opened the door, she almost mistook the figure for Tai, but she soon realised that the newcomer was dressed in pretty much full white as oppose to Tai's brown hoodie and camouflaged trousers.

"Ms Nikos?" he asked the teen

"Pyrrha" she corrected

"Pyrrha," he repeated, "he's ready for visitors."

"Thank you," she replied, exiting the dorm room, closing the door behind her. Nikolaus followed to ensure that there wasn't any trouble.

When Pyrrha saw Tai, he was sitting up in his bed reading a book in his usual outfit. She walked over to him and seated herself next to his bed.

When Tai saw Pyrrha and Nikolaus walking over to him, he marked his page and closed his book.

"How are you doing?" he asked Pyrrha

"Good." She replied

There was a pause

"I was worried about you," she said. Tai blinked. "When I saw the state you were in."

"It was that bad then?" he asked

"You had lost a lot of blood…" Pyrrha said looking down at her feet

There was another pause

"When did you wake up?" he asked

She looked up, "Huh?"

"You were unconscious, just wanted to know when you woke up."

"Oh… Just after I was taken off the Bullhead."

"And you know what happened? In the forest?" he asked

"Professor Ozpin informed me about what happened."

"Alright"

There was a third pause

"Thanks"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks you for… for saving me" she quickly rushed out of the infirmary. Tai closed his eyes.

"One last thing before I leave," said Nikolaus, "Me and Luc agreed to enrol at Beacon after hearing what you had gotten yourself into and… seeing as you don't have an aura, you're likely to get yourself killed without some support."

"Thanks, Brother" Tai thanked Nikolaus.

"Oh, and uhh… why did you help her?" Nikolaus asked

"Pain is temporary, quitting is forever. I am not prepared to give a life just to save my own. You know this, Nikolaus, we are trying to change." Tai said. Nikolaus silently left the room.

Nikolaus sat on a wooden bench on the school's campus. The rain pounded on the concrete. The rain was heavy on this day. Nikolaus sat in the rain, alone. He didn't care for staying dry or keeping warm, he cared for his brother. He cared about his wellbeing and safety. He didn't want to lose one of the two closest things he had in his life. He was afraid that Tai had grown perhaps too close to his newfound friends and that he would soon reveal his identity to them, meaning that he and Luc would have to follow suit and reveal themselves to these people.

Nikolaus' thoughts were interrupted by a low humming sound. He turned to see a Bullhead docking. The side door opened and a figure dressed in a similar outfit to his, jumped out. The figure wore the same outfit as him, but coloured in Black with White patterns and symbols plastered on it.

"Nikolaus!" the figure shouted as he jogged over to the man on the bench. He closed the distance fast and sat next to Nikolaus in the rain.

"Nikolaus," he repeated, "what are you doing out here in the rain?"

"I fear for our identities" replied Nikolaus

"What has he done?" Luc replied, his tone was dead serious

"I fear he is on the verge of revealing his identity to his new friends"

"Do not worry, Nikolaus!" Luc replied in a reassuring tone, "We will make sure he keeps quiet, but for now we must rest, the night approaches. Come, Brother!" Luc stood and walked into the building, hoping to avoid getting even wetter from the rain. Nikolaus followed his brother and headed to their dedicated dorm room provided to the by Professor Ozpin.

The night went by quick for Luc and Nikolaus and they woke early to check on their brother. The two brothers found the infirmary with Tai still asleep. They left a note on the chair next to his bed, spoke to the doctors about having him released from the infirmary and left to find something to occupy them whilst they waited for breakfast to start serving.

Around half an hour after Luc and Nikolaus had left the infirmary, Tai woke up. He lay in his hospital bed for a couple minutes before sitting up. He noticed a small sheet of paper on the chair next to the bed. Tai reached over with his right arm and snatched the paper from the chair when he had just realised what he had done.

He used his right arm!

'_Sweeeeeeet'_ he thought to himself as he proceeded reading the note.

_Tai,  
>Me and Nikolaus have sorted out the uniform situation with Prof. Ozpin. He was hesitant at first, but he's letting us wear our casual clothing to classes. I think he knows who we are, but don't worry, me and Nik trust the man, he won't tell anyone. Actually, bringing that up made me remember:<br>Don't tell ANYONE about who we are unless you ABSOLUTELY COMPLETELY TRUST THEM. Remember to keep your hood up and your mask on. If we find out that you have told ANYONE about our secrets, you're gonna get it from us (mostly from Nik).  
>Luc &amp; Nik<em>

_P.S: We spoke to the doctors and they said you can leave as soon as you wake, just remember to sign out  
>P.P.S: We'll be in the Cafeteria at 6:45 sharp if you need to speak to us or you just wanna get some chow, otherwise you can ask Ozpin about where our allocated Dorm is<em>

"That was a rather… lengthy note" Tai said to himself. He glanced at the clock which read 6:37am.

'_Best get going; I don't want to miss breakfast'_

Tai signed himself out of the infirmary and headed towards the cafeteria. Ten minutes later, and after walking past it three times, Tai was able to find the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was practically empty, save for his brothers who were sitting at a table discussing something he couldn't quite hear. Tai walked up to them and proceeded to seat himself with them.

"Look who finally decided to wake up!" said Luc playfully

"Not like I had a choice"

"So…" Luc started, "I assume you read the note?"

"Yes," replied Tai

"And you understood the note?" asked Nikolaus

"Yes" repeated Tai

"_Wunderbar_," said Nikolaus. He gestured over to the serving tables, "Get some food before it all disappears"

As Nikolaus spoke, four girls entered the cafeteria. Luc and Nikolaus immediately recognised one of them to be Weiss Schnee. Luc glanced at the clock. 6:51

"They're up early," said Luc

Tai stood up and got himself some breakfast, followed by the four girls shortly after. Tai conversed with the girls for a moment before returning to his brothers' table, the girls following. Tai sat down next to Luc and Nikolaus.

"Why are they following you?" asked the latter

"They're… friends," replied Tai

The four girls sat down opposite the three brothers and began to eat their meals.

"So…" started Yang, "Who are these guys?"

"I'm sure if you introduce yourselves, they'll be willing to introduce themselves" said Tai, shooting a glare at Nikolaus.

"Well then," said Yang, "I'm Yang Xiao Long!"

"Ruby Rose" said Ruby

"Weiss Schnee" said Weiss, her tone slightly fearful.

"Blake" said Blake. Luc and Nikolaus glared at her.

Feeling subjected, she gave up her surname, "Belladonna"

The four girls all stuck out their hands and Luc and Nikolaus glared at each other for a moment.

"Luc," introduced Luc, shaking each of their hands. Nikolaus followed suit.

"Nikolaus," he introduced himself, "Just Nik will do, and we're brothers, all of us."

"Why the hoods?" asked Yang intrusively

"Why do you think?" asked Luc

"Is it because you're _really_ ugly?" mocked Yang

"To conceal our identities," scowled Nik

"Come on!" said Yang, "I'm just playing! I bet you guys are _really_ hot under those masks and hoods!"

"I don't like her," said Nik, looking over at Tai

"Hey! Don't be so quick to judge!" defended Yang, standing up from her seat

"You say that like we don't have someone who judges people by their _names_ sitting with us," Luc glared at Tai

The table went quiet for a moment. Much to the table's surprise, the Schnee heiress had remained quiet during the entire conversation.

Tai finished his food

"We'd best be leaving," said Luc

"Yes, lets," replied Nik

The three brothers left the table and exited the cafeteria.

"They seem… interesting," stated Blake, "especially that Luc guy…"

"Awwww," Yang grinned, "does Blakey have a crush?"

"What? No!" retaliated Blake. Yang continued to tease Blake whilst Ruby was concerned about why Weiss hadn't uttered a word since they entered the cafeteria, only her name.

"Hey, Weiss, are you okay?" Ruby asked, directing her words towards Weiss who didn't reply to the question.

She was scared. Something about those men seemed off, and that scared her. Weiss gathered herself and stood from the table, exiting the cafeteria and making a b-line for their dorm room. They were cold-hearted killers to her. Anyone who conceals their identity has a reason, and that was the most logical one to her. To add to it, the one in white, Nikolaus, he spoke with a dead tone, a tone that said he was a scary bastard.

Nikolaus sat on his bed in the brothers' allocated dorm room. Luc was lying on his bed and Tai was in the bathroom.

Luc sat up on his bed

"You know what, Nik?" he asked, "I think the Schnee heiress was scared" he grinned at the thought

"Could hear it in her voice," replied Nik

"I wonder what she saw in us." Luc asked himself out loud

"We probably looked like assassins to her. Stone-cold killers."

"Well…" Luc begun, "I have to admit, you did seem pretty scary during that conversation. I bet you were the one that scared her shi-" Luc was interrupted by a knock on the door. "I'll get it…" he sighed.

He jumped off the bed and swung himself towards the door.

The door creaked as it opened and revealed a man with silver hair dressed in green, holding a coffee mug in one hand. He took a sip from it.

"What do you need, Professor?" asked Luc as he opened the door fully.

"Not much, I was just checking in on you before you begin your first classes. I trust that everything is to your liking?"

"What's this about Professor?"

Ozpin sighed, "Weiss Schnee came to me ten minutes ago, requesting that you be expelled from the school."

Luc exhaled, closing his eyes

"Now, it is not often that I get a request that someone be expelled from my Academy, and never once have I had to expel anyone, but… Ms Schnee looked extremely troubled. I need to ask if any of you have… interfered with Ms Schnee's life before in any way."

Nikolaus stood and walked to the door, "Let us talk on the roof," he said, exiting the room and heading toward the stairs to the roof. Ozpin followed Nikolaus to the roof. Nikolaus stood facing Vale.

"You are aware of what we are, yes?" asked Nikolaus

"I am," he replied

Nikolaus paused for a moment. He let out a long breath and continued, Ozpin listened.

"As of 3 years ago, me and my brothers all worked as mercenaries. Assassins. We had a habit of taking contracts that mentioned the name 'Schnee' in them. We performed multiple actions against the Schnee Company. We assassinated multiple large names related to the Schnee Company and put their guts up for display in showcases that we left in the bedrooms of the children of the Schnee's. We crippled the economy of the Schnee Company. We were the scariest three people in the world to the Schnee's. We were aware that stories were told about us, we were aware that those stories were often horror stories. After those stories surfaced, we were aware that we were more than just mercenaries working for a pay check, we were killers. Cold-Blooded killers.

Three hooded men that ruined the lives of children. Gave them nightmares. Just the Schnee ones. Displayed their senior's guts like trophies at the ends of their beds. If they were unlucky, they would wake up to blood and gore on the end of their bed. Most of their blood stained my blade and though justice demands I die for my sins, I still live, standing here in the legendary Beacon Academy. I know represent the light, life and justice. I often ask myself why, but it must all be for a greater reason."

He paused for several minutes before continuing, "Tai now represents the darkness, death and pain, though he tries his best to hide it by acting kind to others. It is hard for him, but we get by. Luc represents equality, mercy and retribution. He is the most balanced soul of us all. He is able to control himself, forget about the past. For me and Tai, it is not so easy.

We have donned different outfits, but we still mask our faces in darkness and cloth. Weiss saw through this, she saw who we really were. I don't blame her for fearing us. She grew up hearing the stories of our… sins. None of us deserve to be alive at this moment. I don't know why we are alive. Maybe we are being punished by forcing us to live with our pasts under new rules."

He turned to Ozpin, "we may seem changed men on the outside, but on the inside, we are still the same." He turned and walked towards the door whilst Ozpin remained still. Nikolaus stopped short of the door.

"It is hard to erase history." he left the rooftop and returned to his brothers.

He opened the door to his dorm and found Tai and Luc waiting for him.

"You told him?" asked Tai

"I trusted him," replied Nikolaus, slipping into bed. _'I just hope my trust in him is strong enough'_

**Well… that turned dark**


	5. Chapter 5

**WARNING: This Chapter contains **_**FOUL LANGUAGE!**_**  
>You have been warned<strong>

**Short Chapter this time, sorry guys**

**Chapter 5: A Final Contract  
>3 Years Prior To The Current Events At Beacon Academy<strong>

"Your contract is on that of an 'Albert Loezer'." The shadowed man tossed some files onto the desk in front of him. "He is a drill engineer at the Schnee Mines in Vale. He practically holds the whole bloody mining expedition up with his own two bitchy hands."

He paced back and forth in front of the table whilst explaining the contract. The room was pitch black, aside from the table that was illuminated by a small light hanging from the ceiling. The shadowed figure stopped walking and faced his three hired Hitmen.

"The pay is 75,000 Lien. 100,000 if you scare the Schnee's shitless." He said. The three hooded men glared at him. One reached over and picked up the file that the obscured figure hand placed on the table and flicked through the pages.

After a few minutes of complete silence, the shadowed figure spoke again, "So," the man started, "What's it going to be? Will you take the job?"

"We'll take it," replied the first of the hooded men.

"Goo-" The man started up

"Upon one condition," another of the hooded men cut him off

"Go ahead," replied the shadowed figure

"We get to do what we wish with the body." The third hooded man proposed

"I'm sure nobody would mind," the shadowed man smirked, although none of the hooded men could see his demonic smile.

"Then we have a deal," said the second hooded man as they stood and exited the room, the shadowed figure remaining.

"So, Vale eh?" asked the first of the hooded men

"Looks like we'll be traveling again, Nik" responded the second hooded man

"Why do we always accept contracts in OTHER Kingdoms?" asked the third hooded man

"Because they always give the best Pay" answered the first hooded man, now named Nik

"Yeah…" started the third hooded man, "But why does it have to be Vale? It's on the other side of Remnant, for God's sake!"

"Luc" said Nik, "Stop complaining, you're getting thirty thousand Lien when we finish this contract"

"But surely there's another way to earn 100,000 Lien and _not_ have to take a 12 hour flight from Atlas to Vale, right?" asked Luc

"Luc… shut up." Said the second hooded man, a hint of frustration in his voice, "Besides, Vale is in the center of Remnant so you can't say that Vale is on the other side of Remnant"

"But-" Luc started to talk but was silenced by a deathly glare from Nik.

"Listen to Tai" Nik said, "This is our last contract anyway. We agreed that it would be."

The three purchased tickets for a flight to Vale and boarded their flight the same day. The flight took little over four hours and was extremely uncomfortable, especially for Luc who couldn't stop complaining about the crappy quality of their seats and the flight service.

When the three arrived in Vale, they decided that it was the best course of action to head straight for their target. They asked for directions to the address that was stated in the file and got them easily enough. They headed for their target's abode on foot. The walk was long since Albert lived away from town, in the wilderness. He was one of the few people that were still living outside city walls, most were killed by Grimm or… by other means.

The walk took around 40 minutes, starting from the gates to the Kingdom. When the three brothers arrived, they were impressed with what they saw. Albert Loezer's house was what some might say is a 'light in shining darkness'

The house was massive.

"All this for one man?" asked Luc

"Correct" replied Ti, answering Luc's rhetorical question.

"Hey, that was rhetorical!" Luc said back to Tai

"I know" said Tai. Luc let out a long sigh.

"You torment me, Tai"

"I could say the same" retorted Tai

"Quiet!" whispered Nik, almost shouting

The pair halted their argument and turned their attention to their objective.

"He's made this easy for us" smiled Nik, "He's out in the open with nobody around to protect him"

The trio easily completed their assignment and exited the house with Albert's body wrapped up in a body bag.

"Where to next?" asked Tai

"Now…" started Nik, "Now we pay the Schnee's a visit" he finished his line smiling straight through his mask.

As the dark wave of night approached and drove off the daylight from the Kingdom of Vale, the three brothers sat on a ledge outside one of the windows to the Schnee residence.

"It's… Beautiful!" Luc almost cried at the sight of Nik holding up a gold plated transparent display case.

"I had to get this specially made. Asked him to make it 'fit for royalty'" explained Nik.

The golden rimmed display guarded a neat layout of Albert Loezer's guts and major organs

"I couldn't fit the lungs in…" stated Nik sadly

"No worries Nik" Tai reassured his brother, "It'll still scare her shitless"

"Yes…" Nik put on a maniacal smile, "Yes it will,"

The three brothers remained on the ledge outside the window for two more hours until the clock ticked 1:00am. They discreetly made their way to the window, picked the lock and entered. Nik was the first to enter, followed by Luc and then Tai. They carefully positioned the Golden display case on the foot of the bed in the room.

In the bed lay a young girl, no older than 14, with long white hair, dressed in a white nightgown.

Weiss Schnee, the heiress to the Schnee dust company, lay in a luxurious bed. She slept peacefully. They were about to disrupt this peace. After this night she would no longer rest peacefully again. Nik would make sure of this.

After positioning the display case, the three brothers carefully made their way out of the room. They exited using the window, Tai first followed by Luc.

An intense scream emanated from the bed and Weiss shot up, crawling away from the display of gore and guts. She caught the sigh of a hooded man, dressed in clad white, standing near the Window. The figure twisted his head, so that he glanced over his shoulder. His face was hidden by the shadow of the hood he wore. The figure slightly raised his arm from his side, still with his back facing the heiress; he gave her a thumbs up before climbing over the window frame and disappearing from sight.

Two guards burst through the door.

"Miss Schnee, are you alr-" the guards stopped at the sight of the golden display case, elegantly balanced at the foot of the Schnee heiress' bed.


	6. Chapter 6

**My sincerest apologies for the delay on this chapter, I had to take my laptop in for servicing which lasted an entire week! Schedule will return to normal now.**

**But all that aside, let's play **_**'Spot the Fallout: New Vegas Reference!'**_** or maybe it would be **_**'Spot the line that I blatantly stole from Fallout: New Vegas!'**_

**Chapter 6: Warming Up**

Nikolaus' eyes shot open, yet he remained still in his current position. It wasn't unusual that he would get dreams about his past. He lay in bed and thought about the damage he had done to Weiss Schnee. Oh how much he despised the Schnee family. He tried to break a smile at the memory, but found himself unable to. He was trying to change; he couldn't find pleasure in his demonic thoughts anymore, if he did then how different was he now than he was 3 years ago.

Nikolaus sat up in his bed and threw the sheets off of him. He planted his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes. He jumped out of bed and saw that Luc was still in bed. Upon glancing over at Tai's bed, there was no soul to be seen.

Nikolaus looked up at the clock hanging from the wall. 3:23am.

'_Wow' _he thought to himself, _'Early, wonder where Tai is. Classes start today, he shouldn't be up this early'_

Nikolaus walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He walked the halls of the large academy, all of which were empty and, comfortingly, quiet. He walked until he came to the gym. He stepped inside.

Upon entering the gymnasium, he heard a low whirring sound and a constant light _THUD_. He scanned the gym for a few seconds before finding Tai on one of the treadmills. He wore his usual outfit.

"Bit early, isn't it?" called Nik from the door. Tai didn't respond. Nikolaus approached him as he continued running on the treadmill.

"Classes start today," said Nik. Tai remained silent, focused on his current activity.

Nikolaus stood, observing Tai for several minutes before Tai finally decided to pay attention to him. Tai turned the treadmill off and turned to face Nikolaus.

"What?" he demanded.

Nikolaus remained quiet for a few seconds before talking, "How long have you been awake?" asked Nik

"Two hours" Tai quickly responded. Nikolaus stood silent for a minute, staring at him. Tai knew that Nikolaus knew something was bothering him. Nik could read anyone like a book.

"How?" asked Tai, "How do we do it? How do we change?"

"Time will have its way with us" Nik replied

"It's been 3 years!" Tai shouted in response

"We're changing, Tai. 3 years has done a lot to us"

"But how much longer do we have to suffer?"

"We will suffer with these memories for the rest of our lives. It is justice and justice will have its way with us. There is no way to change it"

"Why us?" asked Tai, "Why were we chosen?"

Nikolaus remained quiet for some time, "We were told to be the change that we wanted to see in the world. I suppose nobody else wanted to see change."

"But why!?" Tai raised his voice once more, "Why did he change us!?"

"He changed us because we were misguided," explained Nikolaus, "We walked the wrong road and he set us on the right road… Life, war, politics, they never change. But men do. Men change over time. Men change through the roads they walk, and our road will soon near its end."

The two brothers remained silent for some time until Tai spoke up.

"Thank you, Nikolaus… I don't know where I would be without you…"

"Don't thank me," said Nik, uttering a slightly depressed tone, "However many rights I do will never make up for the wrongs I have committed, no matter how hard I try."

Nikolaus pursed his lips for a moment.

"Come on," he said, "Let's get you to bed. You need to sleep"

Nikolaus silently led Tai out of the Gym and back to his bed, and he was fully aware that someone had just heard the entire conversation that had just transpired between the two. However, Nikolaus was not in the mood for dealing with their unseen listener, for now he needed to rest. He would deal with the issue tonight.

A few hours later, all three brothers were prepared for their first day at School! How exciting!

"First class?" asked Tai

"Grimm studies with Prof. Port" answered Luc

"Let's head off, then" said Nik

Luc bounded carelessly out the door and managed to bump into Yang on his way out. The two toppled over each other and fell to the ground, Luc landing on top of Yang. Luc quickly scrambled to his feet.

"Sorry 'bout that" Luc apologised to the blonde, hoping that he wouldn't need to get into a fight so early on.

"Nah, its fine" replied Yang, rather merrily as she got to her feet. Tai and Nik emerged from their dorm and Nik closed the door behind them.

"Morning all," greeted Tai as the rest of Team RWBY walked towards them. They each replied in a similar fashion, aside from Weiss who still trembled at the sight of the man draped in white. Nik simply stared at her for a few seconds before averting his gaze. He didn't bother with a greeting.

"So, what do you guys have first?" asked Luc

"We've gooooooottt…" Ruby thought for a short while, "Grimm studies, Professor Port." She concluded. "Wait a minute," she continued, "Why aren't you in uniform?"

"Don't have to" said Tai

"What!?" Ruby asked, confused and jealous at the same time

"We struck a deal with Ozpin," said Luc. Ruby started to groan.

"Race you to class!" challenged Yang

"You're on!" accepted Luc. The two rushed off down the hallway, Tai, Nik and Team RWBY walking after them.

Upon turning the corner that led to Prof. Port's classroom, they saw that Luc was being pinned to a wall by Yang who seemed to be threatening his life.

"TELL ME YOUR SECRETS!" she screamed

"Calm down!" Luc tried to calm down the brawler, but was saved when Nik dragged him away from the predicament

"Come on Luc," he said, "no use starting fights that you won't win"

"What!? I didn't-" Luc tried to counter

"You started it by winning that race, now come on" Nik dragged Luc into Port's classroom

"What's wrong with him?" asked Ruby

"You don't wanna know" replied Tai, entering Professor Port's classroom

Class was boring, even for Luc. Luc was the only person who would listen to someone ramble about something stupid for hours, but Port didn't even have a meaning behind his pointless rambles. He would just boast about himself.

'_Ugh, this guy is soooooo boring!'_ Luc thought to himself

"Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a man. 'Peter' he told me…" Port rambled on and Luc refused to listen anymore.

Tai, Nik and Luc were seated on the very back row, so they could see everything that happened in class. Tai noticed Ruby had achieved the feat of balancing an apple on top of a book, which in turn, was balanced on top of a pencil balancing on Ruby's fingertip.

'_That's… actually pretty impressive'_ Tai thought to himself. Tai was too busy thinking about… other things to listen to what Port was saying. He broke out of his thoughts when he heard a girl shout and saw someone raise their hand in the front row. The girl was Weiss Schnee.

"I do sir!" she shouted

"Let's find out. Step forward, and face your opponent," Port instructed, gesturing to a cage next to him. Weiss quickly rushed out of the classroom to change into her combat attire.

"It seems the heiress is slightly irritated," Nik spoke up from the back of the class

"It appears she has gained some confidence," added Tai

"Confidence in the form of anger? Or the form of jealousy?" questioned Luc

"We will soon find out," said Nik, eager to observe her fighting prowess. Professor Port cleared his throat and directed his gaze at the brothers.

A few minutes had passed before Weiss returned to class in her combat attire, weapon drawn and poised.

"Gooooo Weiss!" cheered Yang

"Fight well!" Blake said, waving a flag that had 'RWBY' imprinted on it

"Represent Team RWBY!" exclaimed Ruby, throwing her arms into the air

"Ruby!" retorted Weiss, "I'm trying to focus!"

Tai looked over to his brothers and spoke quietly, "Easily distracted" he said, before turning back to the front of the class.

"Let the match… Begin!" exclaimed Port as he cut the lock off the cage, revealing a Boarbatusk trapped inside.

The Boarbatusk charged rampantly out of its prison, sights set on Weiss. She rolled out of the way and delivered a slash to the side of the beast that harmlessly deflected off its armored side. The creature of Grimm skid to a halt and remained still for short a second.

"Ha ha!" Professor Port laughed, "Wasn't expecting that, were you?" Weiss glanced over her shoulder at Professor Port, a hint of annoyance on her face.

"Hang in there Weiss!" Ruby shouted as Weiss charged the Boarbatusk. She managed to get her weapon trapped behind the animal's tusks and she struggled to keep it in her grasp.

"Come on Weiss, show it who's boss," shouted Ruby from her seat. Weiss swung her head to look at Ruby, weakening her grip in the process. The Boarbatusk easily disarmed her and threw her weapon to the other side of the room.

"That was stupid," Nik said in a hushed tone

The Boarbatusk swung its head, knocking Weiss off her feet. The animal charged once more but Weiss was able to roll to the side, avoiding the charging beast as it hit the wall behind her. She ran for her weapon and skid to retrieve it.

"Weiss!" yelled Ruby, "Go for its belly, there's no armor underneath-" Weiss quickly cut her off

"Stop telling me what to do!" she screamed, frustrated

Tai turned to Nik

"Turning down helpful advice from her team leader?" he asked

"Very stupid," Nik replied, "She thinks she is better than everyone else," he scowled at the thought

The Boarbatusk formed into a ball and pelted towards Weiss. She was able to form a glyph quick enough to stop the Boarbatusk. It collided with the glyph and flipped onto its back. Weiss jumped up against another glyph that she had formed and shot herself at the exposed underbelly of the primordial beast, impaling it with her sword. She knelt, trying to regain her breath.

Professor Port congratulated her for killing the beast, although she hadn't earned any praise in Nikolaus' eyes. Port dismissed the class and Weiss walked out of the room, the brothers following shortly after, and then the rest of the students who had attended Port's class.

"Go on ahead," Nik said to Tai and Luc as they left the classroom, "I'll catch up"

Nik turned the corner to find Weiss storming off somewhere and Ruby speaking with Professor Ozpin. They were discussing something about leadership.

'_I suppose the heiress has shown her true colours once more'_ he thought to himself

He left Ruby and Ozpin to find Weiss. Surely enough, he was able find her outside, speaking to Professor Port. Nikolaus stood in the doorway, listening to the conversation.

"With all due respect your exceptional skill on the battlefield is matched only by your poor attitude" spoke Port

'_At least he speaks some truth'_ Nik thought to himself as he listened to the conversation.

"How dare you!" screamed Weiss

"My point exactly," proved Port, "I see a girl before me who has spent her entire life getting _exactly_ what she wanted"

"That's not even remotely true," said Weiss, crossing her arms. Nikolaus chuckled to himself slightly.

"Well…" she continued, "Not entirely true"

Nik zoned out for a moment, he became lost in his thoughts for a while. When Nik came back to reality, he saw Port walking from the conversation. Ruby walked up next to Nik, although she didn't see him.

"Hard time?" he asked

"Gwahh!" squealed Ruby, stumbling back, "Where did you come from?" she asked

"I've been here a while," he replied, "What's wrong?"

Ruby sighed, "Its Weiss…"

"What about her?" he questioned

"She doesn't want me to be team leader. She thinks I'm too immature"

"I trust Professor Ozpin has set you on the correct path, but allow me to give you my own advice. Focus on leading your team. It may not sound like much, but heir is a deeper meaning to everything. You have proven that you are enthusiastic, you are intelligent and you have proven that you have the ability to get things done. That is why Ozpin chose you."

He paused for a moment.

"But the thing in leadership is that although those skills, and many other skills, are important in a leader, it is even more important that you become a leader that gets results from their team. A heavy burden has been placed on your shoulders, Ruby, and it's harder to achieve than it sounds, but that's the skill in being a good leader."

Nikolaus remained silent for a moment before turning and slowly walking from the conversation, leaving Ruby behind him. Nikolaus finished his classes for the day and returned with his brothers to their dorm. On the way to the dorm Luc spoke up.

"So Nik…" he started

"What is it?" Nik asked his brother

"I hear you've been giving lectures?" he asked

"So?" Nik asked

"So?" Luc repeated, "That's great! Finally giving advice to others, aside from me and Tai, of course"

"It's getting better, Nik" said Tai, "Who knows, you might make some friends?"

Nikolaus shot him a glare that broke the shadows that obscured his eyes. Luc intervened

"He's just saying that maybe you should be more… social" he said

Nik looked forward, "I suppose you're right…" he said

"Good!" exclaimed Luc, "We can start right now!" Luc took Nik by surprise when he grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall.

'_Fuck'_ Nik thought to himself

Luc had dragged Nik to the door of Team RWBY's dorm room with ease. Nik flailed around like a loose piece of clothing whilst trying to pry his arm from Luc's iron grip. Sadly for Nik, Luc's physique greatly outmatched his and Tai's, so he was forced to go along.

Conveniently for Nik, Team RWBY's dorm was right next to theirs, which meant that he didn't have to run far should the situation somehow get out of hand. Luc slammed his fist on the wooden door, almost splintering the wood by accident. The door was answered by a jolly little girl in red.

"Hey there Luc!" exclaimed Ruby as Nik moaned in the background, something about his arm.

"Heya Ruby!" Luc replied back in an equally happy manor, "Nik was just saying he wanted to speak to you guys, and since we're right next to you, I decided that now would be a fantastic time to start!" Luc shoved Nik into the dorm and Nik stumbled and collided head first with one of the beds. It was a miracle that the bed didn't collapse, seeing its poor suspension.

"Owww…" Nik groaned as he recoiled from the collision with the bed, rubbing his head in pain. Tai appeared at the doorway next to Luc.

"Hey guys," he said, entering the room. Everyone, save for Weiss, greeted the 3 newcomers. Nik recovered from his small fender bender with one of the four beds in the room and looked up to greet them.

"Evening," he said, observing the room and its inhabitants.

Ruby had jumped back up onto her bunk and was now devouring a small plate of cookies. Yang was standing next to him, an almost scary smile stretched across her face. Blake was reading a book in bed, and Weiss was sitting on the edge of her bed. It seemed she had just been studying but was now glaring at Nikolaus. He couldn't tell if there was fear in her eyes, or just shock.

"I suppose I had better start off with an apology," he started

"What for?" asked Yang, butting in

"Well… I've been rather… anti-social recently. Especially towards you all and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for being rude when I introduced myself back in the cafeteria. Something came over me." Nik rubbed the back of his head as he spoke.

"That's okay!" exclaimed Ruby, "We can all be friends now!" she perked up as she spoke

"Not sure what to say to Weiss though…" he started

"Nik, we don't have to mention that right now," said Tai from behind

"No, we do," said Nik. He sighed and looked Weiss in the eyes, "Look, Weiss, whatever you see in me, I'm sure you just have me confused with something… with something else."

When Nikolaus spoke to Weiss, she seemed to snap out of whatever trance she had been in and started looking for words to say

"Um… Well…" she started to speak but couldn't find the words she was looking for, thankfully Yang interrupted her

"It's alright! I'm sure Weiss forgives you, don't you Weiss?" she said, looking over to Weiss

"Yeah… sure…" said Weiss quietly, slightly fearfully, but it didn't show much

"That's… good" said Nik, turning to his brothers and then back to team RWBY, "Anyway, thanks for letting me speak to you guys, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Nik turned and walked out the room, Luc following. Tai stayed behind.

"Poor guy," Tai said, looking to the floor and shaking his head

"Why?" asked Weiss. It seemed she had regained her confidence when Nikolaus left the room

"Why what?" asked Tai

"You said poor guy. Why?" she asked again, elaborating her question

"You don't wanna know," he said, "Maybe you'll learn it from him sometime, but not now. He'll tell you if he wants."

Tai turned and walked out the room, leaving the door untouched behind him. He went straight to his dorm.

"You alright?" asked Luc

"I'm… fine" replied Nik

"Well you don't seem fine," countered Luc

"I said I'm fine," Nik repeated

Luc sighed, "Why can't you just get along?"

"It's… hard" said Nik. The door clicked open and Tai walked into the room

"You doing alright?" asked Tai, closing the door

"Let's just get some sleep," said Nik, laying his head down onto his pillow, hood still up, mask still on

"You think I gave him like a… concussion, or something?" Luc asked Tai

"It'll take him some time to get used to it," replied Tai, "Maybe if he tells our story, he won't feel so pressurised." Tai slumped down on his bed, Luc following suit soon after.


End file.
